Subperiosteal implants are implants being positioned below a patient's gum but on, or above, the jaw bone, rather than inside the bone. For example and without being limitative, this particular type of implant is commonly used for patients having a shallow jaw bone and which cannot or do not want to undergo a procedure to rebuild the jaw bone.
Subperiosteal implants typically include a metal framework and one or more replacement tooth. The metal framework is positioned over the jaw bone and attached thereon, underneath the gum tissue. The one or more replacement tooth is affixed to the metal framework. Known subperiosteal implants however tend to suffer from several drawbacks. For example, known subperiosteal implants are generic and selected from a library, i.e. they are not patient-specific and/or require the gum tissues to be chirurgically opened in order to acquire information regarding the shape of the jaw bone of the patient, which is undesirable.
Moreover, the metal framework of a subperiosteal dental implant and many other implants systems typically includes a base (or “implant head”) for the one or more replacement tooth to be affixed thereon. Standard implant heads are commonly used on conventional dental implant devices. Standard implant heads also tend to suffer from several drawbacks. For example, they typically have a circular cylindrical shape to which a base of the one or more replacement tooth must be adapted to fit therewith, thereby departing from the natural dentition appearance of the patient.
In view of the above, there is a need for an improved system and method for manufacturing subperiosteal dental implants which would be able to overcome or at least minimize some of the above-discussed prior art concerns. Moreover, there is need for an improved implant head system for placing a replacement tooth thereon, which would also be able to overcome or at least minimize some of the above-discussed prior art concerns.